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Monday, February 28, 2011

Baby steps.

We are new to this. Not really familiar with the whole potty training process. Some people say use cheerios, some say run around naked, sit, stand, up or down. It sounds like a bad night at a fraternity party and who hasn't been there? Just me? Ok.

So, we haven't been forcing it. Who wants their toddler to be traumatized with images of you holding him hostage in the bathroom until he goes? Then you'll really be wiping his ass until he's in high school.

In the morning I ask if he wants to go potty and if he does, we go. Most of the time he goes, of late. Then we put a diaper on. Cause. He's not really ready to pause playing to pee. Before bed we ask again. Sometimes he goes sometimes he doesn't. Occasionally during the day we sit on the potty usually to no avail. That's ok. Baby steps.

Two days a week he is in school. Regularly I ask if he goes potty at school. The answer is always 'no mommy, only girls.'.

See, we are on an opposite chromosomal schedule from the rest of the region. My son is one of three boys out of like 20 kids. BGB is the only girl in her class at school.

Anyway. Everyday after he tells me that only girls go on the potty at school (because only the girls are potty trained) I tell him that boys can go too. Today I told him he should try. He said 'Otay mommy, my try'. (for the record I would let him talk like that forever if I didn't think he'd get beat up on the playground for it)

I am at work when the kids get picked up from school. So this is what I heard on the phone this afternoon: 'Hi mommy!!!!! My peed all all all over the place!'. He went on the potty at school! Victory. He might not have made it IN the potty at school but he sat on the potty and peed. Baby steps.

The next baby step is big boy pants or underwear as he wants to call them. Sidenote: I have this really cute picture of his naked butt with a new pair of his underwear around his waist but I have a policy against asses on my blog so you will just have to imagine it.

As badly as I want him out of diapers and as much as I am looking forward to relocating his man poops to the toilet where I don't have to remove them and as much as I will enjoy saving some money on Luvs size 5's, I might be (read: am) stalling. Not sure I am ready for five plus days locked inside my house cleaning up pee while he figures out when he has to go, how to get to the potty in time, and that it's ok to poop on there too. I know we have to do it sometime and there's no time like the present and wouldn't it be great if he were trained for an upcoming trip to Florida and wouldn't it be great that some of his shorts from last summer might fit if there wasn't a diaper under them?

While we take these baby steps I will be mustering the courage, patience, wine supply, and carpet cleaner I need to potty train.

The Best part? I didn't have to clean it up when he peed 'all all all over the place!'

4 comments:

Have you tried pull-ups? Then he can get them up and down by himself? Or you could wait until it is warmer out, I put a potty seat outside while we were playing, or try setting a timer and make it a game. Good Luck, Natalie basically trained herself at 18 months, Maddie wasn't ready then, but when she was she just handed me her diaper and said, I'm done I want underwear and we never looked back. Anyway, good luck.

It WILL happen. When he's ready. You're awesome that you're not forcing it or going ballistic trying to control it or worry about it. Someone once told me, "They all eventually walk. They all eventually pee on the potty. None of our kids will be in diapers in high school. Just let it happen." So no stress.ps-When are you going to FL? We're going the last week in March.pps-We bought Elmo undies and (via my nanny) put them on every day saying, "Elmo, I'm going to keep you dry today!" And reinforced all day long that we don't pee on our buddies. I'd ask if Elmo was dry, and she'd look down and touch and say YES. You might be a little way off from this...but it's the conversation that Izzy understood. Keeping our buddies dry. :)

Gabe didn't use the toilet until he was 3.5. And not for lack of trying either. Boys are a total pain. Girls are so much easier to potty train.

That said.

Have you had your husband show him how to pee? Cause that was the trick for Gabe. Chris took him to the bathroom, they stood around the toilet like men, and aimed at some cheerios. After a few days of this, Gabe was ALL ABOUT the toilet. Cause he got to be Just Like Dad.